Comparing Business, Innovation, and Platform Ecosystems: A Systematic Review of the Literature

In recent decades, the term "ecosystem" has garnered substantial attention in scholarly and managerial discourse, featuring prominently in academic and applied contexts. While individual scholars have made significant contributions to the study of various types of ecosystem, there appears to be a research gap marked by a lack of comprehensive synthesis and refinement of findings across diverse ecosystems. This paper systematically addresses this gap through a hybrid methodology, employing bibliometric and content analyses to systematically review the literature from 1993 to 2023. The primary research aim is to critically examine theoretical studies on different ecosystem types, specifically focusing on business, innovation, and platform ecosystems. The methodology of this study involves a content review of the identified literature, combining quantitative bibliometric analyses to differentiate patterns and content analysis for in-depth exploration. The core findings center on refining and summarizing the definitions of business, innovation, and platform ecosystems, shedding light on both commonalities and distinctions. Notably, the research unveils shared characteristics such as openness and diversity across these ecosystems while highlighting significant differences in terms of participants and objectives. Furthermore, the paper delves into the interconnections within these three ecosystem types, offering insights into their dynamics and paving the way for discussions on future research directions. This comprehensive examination not only advances our understanding of business, innovation, and platform ecosystems but also lays the groundwork for future scholarly inquiries in this dynamic and evolving field.

mRNA and Adenoviral Vector Vaccine Platforms Utilized in COVID-19 Vaccines: Technologies, Ecosystem, and Future Directions

New technological platforms, such as mRNA and adenoviral vector vaccines, have been utilized to develop coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. These new modalities enable rapid and flexible vaccine design and cost-effective and swift manufacturing, effectively combating pandemics caused by mutating viruses. Innovation ecosystems, including universities, startups, investors, and governments are crucial for developing these cutting-edge technologies. This review summarizes the research and development trajectory of these vaccine technologies, their investments, and the support surrounding them, in addition to the technological details of each technology. In addition, this study examines the importance of an innovation ecosystem in developing novel technologies, comparing it with the case of Japan, which has lagged behind in COVID-19 vaccine development. It also explores the direction of vaccine development in the post-COVID-19 era.

Towards a Healthcare Innovation Scaling Framework-The Voice of the Innovator

This paper investigates the systemic challenges that African healthcare innovators experience in the quest to scale their innovations. The aim is to aggregate insights and to conceptualize a foundation towards building a framework that can be used as a guide by intermediary organizations and global partners to support collaborative innovation in African countries. These insights were gained from analyzing a dataset of survey responses obtained from a follow-up on 230 innovators who took part in the inaugural WHO Africa Innovation Challenge that was held in 2018. The insights led to the identification of 10 key foundational blocks that assist in ecosystem management in a bid to strengthen national health innovation ecosystems and to improve the sustainability and integration of innovations in the health system.

Toward More Inclusive Networks and Initiatives in Innovation Ecosystems: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Background

Expanding the cooperation and enlarging the participation of more diverse stakeholders within innovation ecosystems will increase their efficiency and capacity to contribute at local, regional, and national levels.

Objective

This paper presents the protocol for a systematic review that will identify “opening-up” strategies of innovation ecosystems for increasing the participation of more diverse innovation stakeholders, particularly from low-innovation countries, during the ecosystem formation period.

Methods

An algorithmic search in 4 databases (Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Social Science Research Network) will be applied based on the PerSPecTIF (perspective, setting, phenomenon of interest/problem, environment, optional comparison, time/timing, and findings) methodology, the Cochrane guidelines for qualitative evidence synthesis, and the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. Selection criteria for eligibility include peer-reviewed articles published after December 31, 1999, and containing original data. No restrictions will be placed on the article language and study region, design, or methodology. Methodological strengths and limitations will be assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool. The thematic synthesis method will be adopted, and the GRADE-CERQual tool will be used to assess confidence.

Results

A preliminary search in Web of Science revealed 2758 records. This work is part of the ANGIE project, which was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant 952152) in January 2021. We anticipate that the results of this systematic review will be published in spring 2022.

Conclusions

We anticipate that the outcomes of this systematic review will outline the best practices used by initiatives and networks, as well as their impacts on creating larger and more inclusive ecosystems.

Trial Registration

OSF Registries osf.io/hc62k 10.17605/OSF.IO/HC62K

International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)

PRR1-10.2196/34071

Cooperation and Competition in the Innovation Ecosystem From the Perspective of Evolutionary Psychology

The innovation ecosystem is distinct from innovation itself; the former is based on technology, talent and markets, as well as many other elements of innovation that form the organisational system. Current research on the innovation ecosystem has primarily focused on theoretical discussions of the concept and analysis of evolution mechanisms and influential factors; however, research on mechanisms that influence cooperation and competition within the system is limited. Corporation and competition are the critical elements in the acquisition value of the innovation ecosystem and the realisation of innovation breakthroughs. Given the dynamic nature and complexity of the innovation ecosystem, this research is based on the "value co-creation" theory of innovation ecosystems and consistency with the "reciprocity" principle of evolutionary psychology. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie corporation and competition in the innovation ecosystem from the perspective of evolutionary psychology may foster more efficient cooperation and competition among enterprises, enabling them to realise the value of co-creation and innovation breakthroughs.

Cooperative Evolution of China's Excellent Innovative Research Groups from the Perspective of Innovation Ecosystem: Taking an "Environmental Biogeochemistry" Research Innovation Group as a Case Study

Research, understanding, and prediction of complex systems is an important starting point for human beings to tackle major problems and emergencies such as global warming and COVID-19. Research on innovation ecosystem is an important part of research on complex systems. With the rapid development of sophisticated industries, the rise of innovative countries, and the newly developed innovation theory, innovation ecosystem has become a new explanation and new paradigm for adapting to today's global innovation cooperation network and the scientific development of complex systems, which is also in line with China's concept of building an innovative country and promoting comprehensive innovation and international cooperation with scientific and technological innovation as the core. The Innovative Research Group at Peking University is the most representative scientific and technological innovation team in the frontier field of basic research in China. The characteristics of its organization mechanism and dynamic evolution connotation are consistent with the characteristics and evolution of innovation ecosystem. An excellent innovative research group is regarded as a small innovation ecosystem. We selected the "Environmental Biogeochemistry" Innovation Research Group at Peking University as a typical case in order to understand and analyze the evolution of cooperation among scientific and technological innovation teams, improve the healthy development as well as internal and external governance of this special small innovation ecosystem, promote the expansion of an innovation team cooperation network and the improvement of cooperation quality, promote the linkage supports of funding and management departments, and improve their scientific and technological governance abilities. Through scientometrics, visual analysis of knowledge maps, and an exploratory case study, we study the evolution process and development law of team cooperation. It is found that the main node authors of the cooperation network maintain strong cooperation frequency and centrality, and gradually strengthen with the expansion of the cooperation network and the evolution of time. Driven by the internal cooperative governance of the team and the external governance of the funding and management departments, this group has gradually formed a healthy, orderly, open, and cooperative special innovation ecosystem, which is conducive to the stability and sustainable development of the national innovation ecosystem and the global innovation ecosystem.

Innovation: an emerging focus from cells to societies

Innovations are generally unexpected, often spectacular changes in phenotypes and ecological functions. The contributions to this theme issue are the latest conceptual, theoretical and experimental developments, addressing how ecology, environment, ontogeny and evolution are central to understanding the complexity of the processes underlying innovations. Here, we set the stage by introducing and defining key terms relating to innovation and discuss their relevance to biological, cultural and technological change. Discovering how the generation and transmission of novel biological information, environmental interactions and selective evolutionary processes contribute to innovation as an ecosystem will shed light on how the dominant features across life come to be, generalize to social, cultural and technological evolution, and have applications in the health sciences and sustainability.This article is part of the theme issue 'Process and pattern in innovations from cells to societies'.

Policy-driven ecosystems for new vaccine development

This paper examines the relationship between biomedical policies and entrepreneurial R&D strategies. Public health programs have been unable to provide effective and affordable treatment of infectious diseases for the poor. While governments have become more open to private sector contributions to policy objectives, it is rare to find new ventures commercializing healthcare innovations for neglected diseases. Two case studies of entrepreneurial ventures, in the UK and China, provide evidence on how resource-constrained firms mobilize participants in policy-specific ecosystems to achieve their goals of new vaccine development for tuberculosis. Ecosystem analysis reveals how the innovators’ business models can align their strategies with national policy objectives.